Time to Grow Up

By now, everyone has heard about Joshua Vannoy, the 17 year old student from Beaver Falls, PA that was heckled by his teacher for wearing a Denver Broncos John Elway jersey to school the Friday before the AFC championship game. Now, it seems as though every media member in the country is calling for the teacher to be fired.

Let’s get serious for a second.

This is a 17 year old boy. We aren’t talking about some little kid who thinks Orange and Blue are “cool” colors. This boy is almost in college. He knew exactly what he was doing. Is it that hard to see that he was looking for some kind of reaction?

Reports say the teacher, John Kelly, made Vannoy take his mid-term exam on the floor and asked the whole class to throw paper balls at him. Was it in bad taste? Yes. But, I’m pretty sure the teacher was just being a ball-breaker. If paper is the most you ever get thrown at you, consider it a blessing.

I find it even stranger that one of the first places Vannoy contacted after the incident was the Denver Post. Then, one of the pictures he posed for is him with a sad puckered lip looking face in his Elway jersey. Does he really need this much attention? Moreover, does he deserve this much attention?

Emphatically, the answer is no.

By all accounts, Kelly is a great teacher and a very decent man. He teaches an ethics course and does explain to his students before the class begins that they will be subject to uncomfortable feelings at times. While throwing paper at Bronco fans probably isn’t in the lesson plans, I think it is safe to say the boy overreacted a little.

We’ve all had one of those teachers. The one who embarrassed us. The one we’d like to have gotten fired. The one we’d like to take a few swings at. But this is part of growing up. Consider it a lesson.

Joshua Vannoy’s life wasn’t ruined by this altercation. Let’s not ruin Kelly’s either.